Members of Parliament are renewing their call for a strong Arms Trade Treaty in a Parliamentarian Declaration being launched by the Control Arms coalition. This declaration will remain open for signatures until it is delivered to governments in advance of the ATT negotiations scheduled for July 2012.

Parliamentarians for Global Action, a Control Arms member, presented the declaration during their annual forum and have already collected signatures from 2,100 parliamentarians representing 114 countries.

The declaration presents an excellent opportunity for campaigners to advance support for a bulletproof treaty from within their own governments. Parliamentarians have a tremendous role to play in the success of the future Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) acting as advocates, lawmakers, guardians of public trust and also as moral individuals.

Therefore, Control Arms urges its members to:

Contact Members of Parliament (MPs) in your country and ask them to sign the declaration;

Organize briefings or meetings with groups of parliamentarians about the Arms Trade Treaty;

Refer to support you’ve received from parliamentarians when lobbying your government.

A key element of the Declaration is its call on decision-makers to create an international agreement that encompasses all transfers of conventional weapons and commitments to strong criteria that will prevent irresponsible arms trading between countries. It further acknowledges the role of parliamentarians in making the treaty a “meaningful reality” and welcomes similar declarations made recently by survivors of armed violence, global investors and religious leaders.

Parliamentary support for an ATT was first demonstrated in 2008, when Control Arms partners and other organizations around the world collected more than 2,000 signatures from parliamentarians in 124 countries. Control Arms hopes to collect at least as many signatures in 2012 – if not more!